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06 May 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Barend Nagel
Africa Month
Africa Month; a time to celebrate and reflect on African unity in diversity.

Africa Day marks the commemoration of the establishment of the Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU), now called the African Union (AU). Every year on 25 May the continent celebrates its diverse peoples and cultures. At the University of the Free State (UFS), Africa Month is pinned on the calendar as a time for critical conversation. This year, it coincides with the general elections on 8 May 2019, when South Africans will exercise their democratic right to vote.
  
Opportunity versus opportunism

A series of events such as the Annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture, hosted by the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies will mark the memorable month. Prof Francis Nyamnjoh is expected delve deeper into the topic of Ubuntu-ism and Africa: Reconciling opportunity and opportunism.  

Giving back to locals

The Student Representative Council is to champion a community outreach programme known as Meal In A Jar. This initiative will see learners at Joe Solomon Primary School in Heidedal receiving a hearty meal and stationery as a gesture of ubuntu and engaged scholarship. 

Dialogue beyond borders

The Office for International Affairs is to host the second Annual Africa Day Reflection and Celebration event at which topical issues of continental importance will be dealt with.

Migration, segregation, and liberation

The Debate Society together with the History Student Society will unpack Africa’s role in South Africa’s liberation, the formation of Southern Africa’s borders, and free internal migration policy. 

Debate on African Boarders
Tuesday 21 May 2019
15:00-17:30
Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus

Annual Africa Day Memorial Lecture
Wednesday 22 May 2019
17:30
Equitas Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus

Meal In A Jar
Thursday 23 May 2019
14:00
Joe Solomon Primary School, Heidedal

2019 Africa Day Reflection and Celebration (Livestream)
Friday 24 May 2019
11:00-14:00
Reitz Hall, Centenary Complex, Bloemfontein Campus

News Archive

Our democracy is not in a good condition
2013-03-28

 

Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Senior Research Professor on Trauma, Forgiveness and Reconciliation and Prof Andre Keet, Director of the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice during the live broadcast of the NRF lecture.
Photo: Supplied
28 March 2013

“Our democracy is not in a good condition.”

Those were the words of Prof Andre Keet, Director of the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice at the University of the Free State (UFS), on the eve of Human Rights Day on 21 March 2013.

Prof Keet participated in a lecture series of the National Research Foundation (NRF), the Science for Society series, which was broadcasted directly on SAfm from the UFS.

The topic for the lecture was racial reconciliation and social cohesion in the context of racial inequality.

“South Africa is the most unequal society in the world. According to the latest census results, there are still major inequalities in the distribution of wealth, with the average income of black South Africans one sixth that of white South Africans.”

Prof Keet said that reconciliation and social cohesion is not possible while major racial inequalities still exist.

He asked the question: “If reconciliation is merely linked to an apology and forgiveness, is it possible to reach reconciliation which can change social structures and practices?”

Prof Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Senior Research Professor on Trauma, Forgiveness and Reconciliation, also participated in the lecture.

Click on the link to listen to the full broadcast. http://iono.fm/go/safm

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